


Just Hold On // L.T.

by captainsunlinson



Series: Prequels - Made In The A.M. [1]
Category: Louis Tomlinson - Fandom, One Direction
Genre: Bank Robbery, Bullying, Crimes & Criminals, Death, Driving, England - Freeform, F/M, Family Death, Gay, Getaway driving, M/M, New York, Organized Crime, Sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 23:09:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 15,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17414300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainsunlinson/pseuds/captainsunlinson
Summary: (PREQUEL ONE)Louis Tomlinson goes from working at a rundown theater to working for one of the biggest businessmen in the world.





	1. Chapter 1

~Wish that you could build a time machine,

So you could see,

The things no one can see~

 

 

Before Louis was the Adidas Queen, and was verified on Instagram, he worked at his local theatre in Doncaster. Not a movie theatre, but a theatre that put on productions and shows. Louis didn't act - he was even worse at singing, so he thought, so he just did stage management. He was good at it too. But the job didn't pay much money, but what it did went back to Louis' family.

Louis had a big family - five sisters and one brother, and a messed up dad situation. His biological father left when he was a toddler, and he was raised by his stepfather, but eventually his mother remarried again, and had two more children with Dan. Those were his youngest siblings - Doris and Ernest.

And today, they were turning one.

"Louis, take the pie out of the oven, would ya?" Johannah yelled from the backyard, where she was putting up decorations. Louis, who was helping Lottie with her makeup, screamed back that yes, mum, he would do it.

"Lottie, go get those kids dressed." He told her, and she smiled, and continued making her eyes look perfect.

The pie was perfect too, so Phoebe thought as her big brother took it out of the oven. There were two sets of twins in the family - the older ones being Phoebe and Daisy, and with Doris and Ernest being the younger ones. "Don't eat it, yet." He told Fizz, who was just younger than Lottie. She stuck her tongue out at him, but went away to help mum in the backyard, since she was all alone. Dan was picking up the pizza.

Daisy, of course, was sleeping. All Daisy did was sleep - they had her checked out, but she was just tired all the time. No underlying disease caused that, she was just tired.

Louis put the pie up high, out of reach of the children, but it was even too high for him, since he wasn't that tall, either. "Damn you, short legs." He said, getting a stool to put it on top of the fridge.

"I think I'll be taller than you one day, Boo Bear." Lottie said, coming down the hallway with a struggling Doris under her arm. "Ernest is in with Daisy, sleeping."

The house was small. Louis didn't sleep there; he had his own studio apartment in the city, and when he moved out, Lottie and Fizz got his small room. Before, the four girls had shared a room, and that was a nightmare. But now, Phoebe and Daisy had that room, and Doris and Ernest still slept in the walk-in closet in Mum and Dan's room. The custody situation with their dad was fifty fifty. Sometimes they went over for the weekend, or stayed a whole week, and most of the time, Ernest and Doris went with them.

But the only thing that completely sucked about the situation was that there was only one bathroom.

Mum got up at four in the morning every school day to shower, and then Lottie, then Fizz, then Phoebe, then the twins got bathed, and Dan usually showered at the gym. Daisy took a shower before bed, since she was a terror in the mornings.

"Daisy, time to wake up. Party starts in literally ten seconds."

"Go." Ernest said to him. "Sleep." Louis rolled his eyes - Daisy was raising Ernest to be her.

But Daisy started moving, reluctantly. "I'll get him ready, Lou." Leaving the room, Louis padded down the hall and pulled his jacket closer around him. It was a jean jacket with fur inside - his favorite one, but not the most expensive. No, that was an Adidas windbreaker that he had gotten for his 18th birthday. It was the most expensive thing he owned, and he treasured it dearly.

"LOUIS!" Suddenly there was screaming, coming from the direction of the backyard. Phoebe and Louis ran to the back door, pushing through it at the same time. And suddenly, they saw what Fizz was screaming about.

Jay had fainted.

Although her birth name was Johannah, everyone called her Jay. It was just the way things were.

"What happened, Fizzy?" Louis asked, and Phoebe ran back inside to get Lottie and the twins.

"We were hanging the streamers, and she got really dizzy and fell onto the grass. Louis, what do we do? Should I call an ambulance?"

Louis watched his mum's relaxed face. "She's waking up. Get me an ice pack, and go tell Lottie to call Dan."

"What am I doing?" Lottie asked. "Twins have the babies. Mum!"

"She's waking up. Just call Dan." Louis said, noticing the frantic look on the fifteen year old's face as Fizz ran past her.

"Okay." Lottie said, running to get the phone.

\---

"It's alright, Dan. Just take them home." Jay told her husband, who anxiously glanced across the room at Louis, who simply nodded. Louis then nodded at Lottie, who was in the hallway, and then Dan gathered them up and left the hospital.

Jay was fine, physically, but she was a bit of a hypochondriac, and wanted to get a few tests done. She wouldn't have done it unless she was really worried, since the more time she was in the hospital was less time she was working, and that meant less income on the table. They didn't have to worry about insurance or medical bills - England had free healthcare.

But it didn't mean that they got the best quality of healthcare at all times. But it was what they had.

"Louis, go on home." Jay told him, noticing that the twenty-year old was still sitting in the chair. "I'll be fine."

"Never. Never leaving you." He said simply, and glanced down at his empty hands. He, like the rest of their family, didn't have cell phones - Mum and Dan did, but none of the others. Mark, who for the story's sake, we'll call Louis' father, was at the moment working to get Louis a phone, and then Lottie and all the way down, since they were good kids, and they deserved something like that. "Are you worried, mum? Do you think something's wrong?"

"I don't know." She said, softly. "But I'm scared. It feels like something is wrong, and I don't know what." She was on the verge of tears, and Louis came to give her a hug. Jay was strong, Jay had never fallen apart once in Louis' life.

It was how he knew something was really wrong.

Even before the doctor came in and told them that she had leukemia.


	2. Chapter 2

~Feels like you're standing on the edge,

Looking at the stars,

And wishing you were them~

 

 

"I am on the plane." He said, sending his mother a picture, albeit angrily. No matter what her health issues were, he was not to cancel his trip to New York at the end of March, more than a month after her initial diagnosis.

In between then and now, his dad had gotten him a phone, just in time for the trip, and this way, he was able to take lots of pictures to send back to his family. Lottie was jealous - ever the teenage girl, but Louis was older, and was grateful to have his first phone for his first trip.

He was also terrified to fly overseas. He had flown when they were younger - they had gone to France on holiday many times, but this was definitely a longer flight, and he wasn't going to have his family with him. But he was determined to enjoy his holiday - he was twenty, for god's sake, and had never been somewhere without his family.

But, he went, determined to have fun and find himself.

\---

Louis coughed, and then continued the conversation with his mother. "The hotel is bad, but enough. I won't be here a lot, just exploring. I saw the Empire State Building today, and the Statue of Liberty. It was amazing, mum. I just wish that you and the girls could see it all."

"We will. One day." Jay told him.

Louis looked down at his barefeet on the hotel room floor, and bit his lip for a second before releasing it. "Get some rest, mum. I'll be fine."

After hanging up the phone, Louis angrily put on some shoes and grabbed his expensive jacket. He was going clubbing, even if he wasn't old enough.

After a while, he found one place in a shady part of town that didn't card him, and he went inside and got some shots. He was definitely going to go broke from this trip, but alcohol was definitely going to loosen him up and let him have fun.

The lights swirled overhead, and Louis lost himself in the trashy music that the DJ was playing on a Friday night. He let his body control his movements. His hair was soaked through with sweat, and his jacket was covered in booze from his own and others jerky movements with their drinks.

After a while, he stops feeling happy. He just feels angry. So he leaves the club, runs down the road, trying to let out some emotion, talking to himself as he does so. "How can I believe in God when he does things like this? He blesses us with life, but makes us poor. He makes my mother beautiful and strong, but takes away her health, when she has six children depending on her. Why does this happen?"

Louis fell to his knees in front of a street light. He clung to it, sobbing. Alcohol didn't make him feel better, suprisingly. He felt worse, and started questioning everything. "I want everything to be okay. I want my mum to be okay." While Louis sat there, wishing for normalcy and everything else he couldn't have, he didn't get that.

He was kidnapped instead.

\---

He didn't hear the footsteps come up behind him, but he felt the hands reach around his neck and push a cloth to his mouth. He had seen this happen in enough movies to know what it was, and he tried to not breathe. Louis pulled his body forward, falling off the curb, and then he pushed back, to the left, to the right.

And then he breathed.

It all went cloudy. His arm felt like a twenty pound bag of potatoes, and he fell to the sidewalk, unconcious, a moment later.

The next morning, when he woke up, he wasn't in a dank warehouse with limited lighting and tied to a chair. Instead, he was sitting in a comfy armchair in an office.

It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the overhead lights, and how comfy the chair was shocked him. He felt how puffy his eyes were from crying, and his nose was all stuffed up. After he noticed all of this, he noticed the desk and the man sitting behind it, who finally turned his attention to Louis in the chair.

He stood, extending his hand over the desk to shake Louis' hand. "Hi, Louis. I'm Simon Cowell."


	3. Chapter 3

~What do you do when a chapter ends?,

Do you close the book and never read it again?~

 

 

"Do you want some water?" Simon asked, as Louis analyzed his office and him. Simon was tall, with prominent features, wearing a suit that matched the vibe he was giving off - power.

"I would like to know why I was kidnapped." Louis said, his voice cracking throughout.

Simon got a water bottle out of the mini fridge next to his desk. "Because I wasn't sure how cooperative you'd be if I just asked you to a meeting. You're on vacation, after all."

"Why me?" Louis asked next, trying to prioritize his questions in his head.

"Because, you need money and I need someone like you. Someone I can form from scratch."

"To do what?" He asked, taking the water bottle with his shaky arm.

"Whatever I want. Listen, if you agree, you'll stay in New York for a couple of months. You'll start training in my gym for whatever I wish, and I'll give your family a loan." Louis' head was spinning with all of this information - his family needed money, but this sounded like some cultish stuff. Louis didn't want to join a cult - he just wanted to write plays and see them acted out on a stage.

"How long?" Louis asked. "I need an estimate."

Simon sighed, pulled a parfait out of his mini fridge and handing it to Louis. "Can't say. Depends on how well you do in training, and when I need a man for a job."

"What if I say no?"

"I drop you back at your crappy hotel, and we forget this ever happened. Maybe I give you fifty bucks for your troubles."

"I need more time. I can't just decide this on a whim." He said, ripping the top off of the parfait. "This is serious."

"I understand. That's why I brought you here. I have some filing that needs to be done, and you can do that, mull it over, and I'll pay you two hundred bucks at the end of the day if you do that well."

"Fine." Louis said, grabbing the spoon Simon offered him before sitting back at his desk.

Simon got right back to work, and Louis quickly devoured the yogurt. He thought of his mom. Would she want him to engage in illegal activity to help out their family? Most likely not, but Louis knew that this would provide them a lot of money in a short amount of time. That way, his mum could stop worrying about getting back to work, and taking out a loan from the bank without being able to pay it back anytime soon.

It was simple - Louis didn't really have much to think about. He was a family man, and he had to help out his family. Simple as that.

\---

"I'm giving you the key to this apartment. I own it. No need to pay rent or anything on it, or utilities. You can just stay there whenever you're in New York. Two bedrooms. The master, and a little office or something. Maybe a guest bedroom. It's pretty nice. Got a nice balcony with a view. Let me walk you out." Simon helped Louis off of the floor - he had made his decision hours ago, but had stayed to help with the filing. Simon had bought him lunch, and now it was five o'clock. Time to go home. "I'll pay for a cab to take you to your hotel and then to the apartment. Here's your money."

The weary Louis remained silent, taking the money. He just let Simon ramble on and on, since he had no mind to talk. He said goodbye as Simon stuffed him into a cab, and he didn't really think much as he packed up his suitcase back at the hotel and then returned to the cab.

The only thing he wanted to do was call his mom.

So the second he climbed the three flights of stairs up to the small apartment, he flopped on the comfortable bed, and called Jay. It was very late at night for them there, but he knew that she would pick up. "What's wrong, Boo Bear?" Jay answered the phone. 

"I joined a cult for money." He blurted out, taking off his shoes.

"Louis, stop joking around." Jay said, sounding as tired as he did.

Louis hung up his jacket on a hook in the closet. "I'm serious, mum. It may not be a cult, but I did get hired by this guy to do a job for a lot of money."

"Louis William Tomlinson, this is the kind of things that happen in America. Us British people go over there on holiday, and then we get hired by gangs! Louis, what were you thinking?"

"It's not a gang. He's a businessman. And he gave me an apartment to stay in while I train, and he's sending money to your bank account in the morning. All I have to do is go through with the job, and I'll get more money at the end." Louis kicked his suitcase over to the bathroom, taking his toothbrush out.

Jay sighed, realizing that she didn't have the strength to argue with her ornery son. "The second you're in over your head, Louis, you have to leave."

"I know that, mum." He said, mouth full of toothpaste. "I'm not an idiot."

Jay sighed. "I'm really tired, Louis. Let's talk in the morning."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too, Boo Bear."


	4. Chapter 4

~Where do you go when your story's done?,

You can be who you were or who you'll become~

 

 

Mark, Jay, and Dan had a tough time coming up with what to do with the money. It was $5,000 to start with, which converted into pounds was still a lot. About $3,000 of it was set aside for rent, food, and utilities. Then, with the other $2,000, they went on a bit of a spree. Lottie and Fizz both got phones, a new outfit, and new backpacks. The twins got new school uniforms, new backpacks, and some new shoes. The smaller twins got some new play toys for the backyard, and Dan got the whole family a trampoline and a new microwave. They were really grateful to Louis, though, even for this small of an amount of money. Louis promised them that there would be more.

Louis was still having a tough time emotionally, as he began training at Simon's training center. He got a physical trainer, started taking driving classes, and learning how to operate a gun. All of this distracted him from the fact that his mum was dying.

But what also distracted him was his boyfriend. But, in reality, Evan was more like a sugar daddy. 

"You have a beautiful accent." Evan would tell Louis over dinner at a fancy restaurant downtown, and then would buy him gifts. Louis got new Adidas everything. Trackies, trainers, jumpers.

Louis was distracted by money, love, and training. He didn't call his family that much, although him and Lottie facetimed once a day, at least.

The training was going pretty well, Simon told him, whenever he checked in on him. Louis was excelling in gun training and driving, and was getting to the advanced stage of the latter.

Whenever Simon came by, the two of them usually smoked out back and talked about his training. Louis had picked up the habit from Evan, which goes to show that nothing positive had happened to Louis in his time in New York. "Smoke?" Simon asked, this particular day, and Louis took a break from the weights, headed outside.

Simon had his lighter out, but didn't offer Louis a cigarette. "I've got a job for you." He said instead. "Kind of a last minute thing. They need a driver, therefore I need you to go get my money."

"Sounds cool." Louis said, crossing his arms. "When do I meet them? What's all the details?"

Simon's phone rang, and he glanced up at Louis quickly. "I'll have a car pick you up tomorrow at ten. See you later."

Louis waved to Simon, excited to do the job and then head home - he had been in New York way too long.

\---

"Hi, we're with the NYPD, would you please come down to the station with us? We have some questions about your boyfriend Evan?"

"Of course." The bleary-eyed Louis said, rubbing his eyes and pulling on his Adidas trainers. His stomach was alight with butterflies, but he knew that they knew nothing about Simon and the job. This was just about Evan. But what had he done? He was just a sweet guy who bought Louis nice things, took him out for dinner, and then made out with him in his penthouse apartment.

"Did you know that Evan, your boyfriend, was a drug dealer?" Louis' inner self laughed himself to death, but the outer version of him had no idea what to say.

"No? I just knew that he had money and he bought me all these things."

"So, you never knew about anything related to drugs? Marijuana? Cocaine?"

Damn, Evan, Louis thought. "No, I didn't. But I am disgusted to hear about that."

"Normally we would be suspicious about the fact that you're from England, and he could be making deals overseas, but from your body language, it's easy to tell that you didn't know anything. Thank you for your time, Louis."

"Thank you, sir." Louis stood up, shaking the detective's hand. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help."

"We will." The detective said, and Louis politely excused himself, walking out of the building to go find a cab. It was now 9:30 A.M. and he was definitely going to be late for this meeting.

But in the cab, he called Lottie, who was just getting out of school. "I love New York." He laughed.

"Why?" Lottie said, disgusted. "It seems terrible."

"I love the drama. My boyfriend was just arrested for being a drug dealer, and I'm going to be a getaway driver. America is just like the movies."

"I'm hanging up, Louis." Lottie said, shaking her head. "Have fun."

"Love you, Lotts." Lottie flipped him off and ended the call. "I love New York." He giggled again. "I can't wait to see what else happens here."


	5. Chapter 5

~Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh, if it all goes wrong,

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh, darling just hold on~

 

 

Louis did not give a good first impression to his team. He was wearing flip flops, sweats, and his jean jacket, since he was woken up and taken down to the police station. "Sorry for the unprofessional attire, my boyfriend was arrested this morning."

"Sorry to hear that." Simon said, a demure smile on his face.

There were three people sitting at the dining room table. One had black hair, and was pretty tall. The girl had blonde hair and was currently building what looked like a bomb, and the last person had brown hair, a glassy look in his eyes, and a prosthetic leg. Louis could see this because he sat on the end of the table.

"Meet Luke, Perrie, and Palmer." Simon told Louis, who took a seat at the table, all smiles. The others were emotionless. "This is Louis, your getaway driver." Simon said, louder. Still no emotion. "They are angry because they don't think that they need you, but they need you."

Perrie exploded with a string of curses, and Simon simply pursed his lips.

"Luke, Louis is now taking your job. If you don't accept him, you get less money." The three of them all sighed collectively, as if they were one person, and then there was silence. "I'm leaving it up to you guys to fill him on the details you already know. Louis, keep up the training. See you soon."

Simon left them alone, and Louis felt three hot glares on him. He felt persecuted and uncomfortable. "Would now be a good time to fill me in on my role?" Louis said.

Luke stood, breezing out of the room, headed to one of the rooms down the hall. "Getaway driver." He yelled.

Perrie continued building her bomb, and Palmer walked over to the desk, typing on the computer. "When would be a better time?" He asked, looking at the swirls in the desk.

"Never." Perrie responded, and then looked up and smiled at Louis.

They don't want me here. No matter what Simon said, Louis thought to himself. He didn't bother to say anything, but he simply just walked out the front door, hiding himself into his jacket.

He thought he heard cheers when he closed the door behind him.

\---

Louis sat in his apartment, watching High School Musical and stuffing his face with cookie dough ice cream. He was a sad excuse for a twenty year old. Some people didn't like him, hurt his feelings, and this was his solution. Watch a DCOM and eat ice cream.

"Hi, mum." He sighed, when his mom called as he threw away the empty container of ice cream.

"How did today go?"

"My coworkers wish I was dead." He joked, pausing the movie and flopping onto the couch.

"Louis, it'll take time." Jay said in her soothing voice. Louis mocked her quietly, before she continued talking. "Maybe buy them some coffee, or something. To get them to like you a little bit, or at least be open."

"They literally wish that I didn't work there, and that I would never have met them, mum." Louis complained. "I wish I could come home."

"You don't have to do it, then. Come home to me, Boo Bear." Jay started to cry, and Louis softened instantly, realizing that his problems didn't matter compared to the other ones. His family needed this money to survive.

He had to do this.

"Please don't cry, mum. I'll be home soon, I promise. This is it. The job. A couple more weeks and I'll be home."

"Come back to me, Louis."

"I will, mummy." Louis said. "Just please, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Rest now."

"Goodnight, Louis." She said before quickly hanging up.

Louis looked at the television, paused on Troy Bolton's face. "I'll get everyone coffee in the morning. If they don't talk to me about the mission, I'll talk to Simon. That's reasonable, and sounds like a good plan." He sighed. "It's a good plan."


	6. Chapter 6

~The sun goes down and it comes back up,

The world it turns no matter what~

 

 

"Thanks for the coffee." Luke admitted shyly, wearing sweats and no shirt in the dim living room. Louis pushed himself into the corner of the couch, trying to protect himself.

"You're welcome." 

"Perrie said that she'll tell you about the mission today. She's in the shower, but just wait a couple minutes." Louis smiled, and started texting Lottie his updates, since she was done with FaceTime. Such a teenager.

Lottie didn't text back, and Louis eventually started looking around the little apartment. There was the spacious kitchen and the dining room. Then, a couch and a television with a bunch of movies next to it. Then there was the desk, which had high-tech equipment next to it that shocked Louis, who just barely got his first IPhone.

"You're the getaway driver." Perrie said, moving towards the dining room as she came out of the bathroom. She moved towards the bomb that she was building there. "That means that you'll wait outside of the job for us, and then you'll drive away as fast as you can. They'll be decoys, do you know how that works?"

"Yes." I answered. "I've taken all of Simon's classes." He kept his attention focused on the swirlings in the table, and tried to ignore the itch for a cigarette.

"Well, you'll meet up with them. Luke knows most of the details, but it's all stuff that you could learn on the day of the job. But, we fly out to North Carolina on the 27th of this month, and the job takes place two days after that. We'll all take a cab over there, and you'll go pick up the car while we're inside, stealing everything."

"Where exactly are we stealing from?"

"The Charlotte Motor Speedway." She said. "Big money haul. You don't need to know what the rest of us will be doing, you just need to drive us out of there fast enough that we don't get caught."

"I got that." Louis smiled.

"I want to see your driving skills. Make sure that you're not defective and we don't have to send you back to the factory." Louis laughed, but Luke didn't have a joking tone. He was completely serious. "Tonight. Be here at eight. I'll have a car."

\---

"Everyone get in." Luke said, motioning to the car. Palmer and Perrie got into the backseat, arguing about something, and Luke got into the passenger seat. The three of them appeared nervous, but Louis was calm.

After a couple of cigarettes, nothing could faze him. They basically served as anxiety medication for him, even though he was never diagnosed.

Louis got into the driver's seat, moving the seat so that he could reach the pedals and see over the dashboard. Perrie snickered at this, and Luke started giving the instructions to Louis. "Your test is to get to the wharf in ten minutes."

"That's a forty minute drive." Palmer said, suspicious. "With all the traffic, it's fourty. Even at this hour."

"I want clam chowder, and I don't want to wait. Can you do it?" Luke eyed Louis over his dark sunglasses.

"If you GPS it, I can do it." Louis smirked.

In the rearview mirror, Luke smiled at Perrie and Palmer, knowing that it was impossible. Soon, there was a phone showing where the wharf was on the dash, and Louis turned on the car.

"Ten minutes starts now."

Louis got the car up to 100 in less than a minute, and they were zipping along the coastline. Louis' eyes were not concentrated on the road, instead they focused on the phone, as he zipped through backroads instead of taking the most direct route.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked. "This is the wrong way."

"I'll get there in time this way. I'm not going through traffic."

"You'll get pulled over doing these speeds on city streets." Palmer yelled at him.

"Why have a getaway driver that can't evade the police?" Louis laughed. "Turn up the radio, Luke." With his terse instructions, they all knew that Louis knew their plan to fail him, but Louis didn't fail. He was going to show them that he was the best getaway driver they could have.

Louis used all of their time, down to the last second, pulling into a parking spot as the timer on Perrie's phone went off. Then Louis got out of the car, panting and he ran down to the water, taking everything out of his pockets. His jacket went onto the sand, and he threw himself into the waves to cool off.

The others went up to a restaurant, ordering some clam chowder to go. "He's good." Luke said, looking irritated.

"We need him." Perrie said angrily.

"We could do it." Palmer said. "It would just be tight."

"I hate him." Luke grumbled. "He's so cocky and arrogant. I hate him."

Perrie's eyes lit up as Palmer ordered their food. "I have a plan. But it involved invoking your gay side, Luke."

Luke rolled his eyes. "If it's necessary."

\---

"Mum, your advice worked." Louis said, dancing around his room in a towel. "They like me now, or at least think that I'm necessary to the job."

"That's so good, Louis."

"Hey, Lottie hasn't been returning my texts or calls. Is she good?"

Jay sighed. "She's having a tough time with everything. I'll have her call you tonight, okay?"

Louis gave his agreement. "Looks like I'll be home around the second or third of June."

"That's wonderful, Louis. I can't wait to see you."

"Me either mum. Rest. Don't worry. Let everyone else take care of everything." Jay sighed, but agreed, and Louis hung up the phone, ready for an exciting new day tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

~Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh, if it all goes wrong,

Darling, just hold on,

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh, darling, just hold on,

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh~

 

 

Louis walked into the building, preparing to spend the day with the group, getting to know them better, as he had been trying to do for the last several days. Also, he had left his Adidas jacket from his mom there last night, and he needed to make sure that it was safe.

But when he walked into the room and saw what was going on, he knew that it wasn't.

Perrie the Pyromaniac and Palmer the Amputee were holding his expensive jacket over an open flame on the stove, roasting it. Perrie looked over at his shocked face and laughed gleefully.

"Stop it!" Louis screamed, running over there. "My mom gave that to me."

Unable to control his emotions, he burst into tears while trying to tug it away from the two of them. But, unless Perrie stopped, Palmer wasn't going to, and Perrie definitely wasn't going to stop.

"Hey, hey, hey. Knock it off." Luke came into the room saying, and Perrie flipped the flame off, throwing the jacket at Louis. Then Luke took the jacket, inspecting the burns. "It'll be fine." He told Louis, who was trying to calm down. "I know you two hate him, but this is a bit much. It's clear this jacket means a lot to him."

Palmer went back to his desk, and Perrie went back to building her bomb in silence, as if they were being punished. But Perrie couldn't stay quiet, and she exploded. "Why don't you just drop the job? It's clear that we don't want you here."

Palmer chimed in from the other side of the room, "Yeah, you'll probably get us caught or something, loser."

Louis snatched his jacket from Luke, running out of the building, while Luke yelled at the two of them in an angry tone.

Holding the jacket close to his chest, he ran all the way to the nearest store, running up to the counter. He bought two scratch tickets, thanked the employee, and then went to sit on the curb. Louis lit a cigarette, and pulled a quarter out of his pocket to scratch the ticket with.

It was still fairly early in the day, and there were tons of people wandering around. It was summer in New York, after all. Or it was close to summer, at least. But it was the perfect temperature to sit on a curb, smoke, and try to win money.

Louis furrowed his brows and stuck out his tongue as he concentrated on trying to keep the card steady and scratch it with one hand. But eventually, he found his balance, and began to scratch. The dust gathered on his worn jeans, and he kept going at a steady pace, even though tears blocked his vision a couple of times. He thought that they could at least tolerate him until the job was done. He thought that he had earned their respect with the drive.

No, it was clear that he was on his own, no matter how much Luke protected him against the others. He was one of them. And Louis was on his own.

He didn't feel any joy as he won the scratch off card, bringing in fifty bucks.

\---

Louis didn't save the money, and he didn't blow it on alcohol. Instead, he went to Coney Island, trying to spice up what could still be considered his vacation.

He went on most of the rides, laughed and had fun, but he still felt empty inside. Louis wondered if he should start seeing a therapist or something, but then he realized that his emotions were normal, considering that he was only twenty and his mother was dying.

This wasn't the life he had imagined for himself.

He imagined a writing desk in front of a window with a view of the forest. A wraparound porch with a couple of labradoodles in the yard. A couple kids marking up the driveway with chalk. Someone amazing to share all of that with. His loving family coming to plays that he'd written.

Instead, he had this. He was the getaway driver of a businessman, his mother was dying, and he still lived in the same small town that he was destined to die in.

He wasn't living. He was just existing. And Louis wanted so much more than that.

But he didn't know how to fix the hand that life had given him.


	8. Chapter 8

~It's not over 'til it's all been said,

It's not over 'til your dying breath~

 

 

In Louis' depressed state, he could not deny alcohol. Therefore, he went out with Luke to get some drinks at a dingy New York bar on a Friday night. Luke was wearing black jeans, a black top, just all black, really, and the look was feeding Louis' imagination.

"I'll pay." Luke said, when he noticed the beer in Louis' hand. "Get some shots, loosen up."

Louis smiled, dimples showing, and ordering a shot of tequila. "A bold man."

Louis was oddly quiet, and Luke noticed that, being as bold as to run his own hand through Louis' hair. It was getting quite long. "Don't touch me." Louis said, looking up at the black-haired man with anger in his eyes.

"Calm down. You look cute tonight."

"Don't soothe my ego. I don't trust you."

"You trusted me enough to come get drinks with me." Luke said, giggling and coming closer to Louis. "Did you know that almost no one, outside of you, Simon, Perrie, and Palmer, calls me Luke? To everyone else, I'm just Hot Luke. Do you think I'm hot?"

"This room is pretty steamy." Louis said, tugging at his collar.

Luke groaned in frustration. "Well, you're cute."

"So I've been told by my mum."

"Are you British?" Luke asked, fluffing his own hair. "Because I live in London. Born there, raised there."

"Fun. Are you flirting with me?" Louis finally made direct eye contact with Luke, who blushed and looked at the ground. "Does this mean you want to go out on a date tomorrow night? Movie and ice cream?"

"I'm not gay." Luke said abruptly, looking at Louis with no emotion in his face. "And I don't like you."

"Did you invite me here just to ridicule me then? Because I don't get enough of that from Perrie and Palmer? It's high time that I leave. And you better get my tab." Louis walked away from the bar, the bartender looking at Luke with an annoyed look.

Outside, Louis picked up his phone, calling Lottie, whom he knew would be asleep. "Hello." She replied instead, in an irate tone.

"What are you doing awake?" Louis questioned.

"Not sleeping obviously. Doris and Ernest have colds, and we're at dad's and they're sick. He left to get medicine and me and Fizz are watching Frozen with them until he gets back. Why are you calling? What do you want?"

"Just calling to check in. See how everything is going. How's mum? And don't lie." Louis zipped his jacket up, walking down the street. He figured that he'd just walk back to his apartment.

"Not good." Lottie said, and it got quieter as she walked away. A minute later, he knew where she was. In the front closet, behind the shoe rack and under all of the coats. Her favorite hiding spot at dad's. "And I didn't want to tell you about this, but she needs a stem cell transplant. Do you know what that is?"

"Yes, Lottie."

"I'm going to do that. For mom. We have similar antibodies and stuff. The procedure is on June 1st."

"What? What?" Louis said, stopping his walk. "Lottie, you're a teenager."

"Mom needs this, Louis. I just want you to be there. Because, I need you to be there. So does mom. It's so much harder around here without you." Lottie was crying now, and Louis was on the verge of tears as well.

"I'll try my hardest to be there on time, okay? I'll be there. I will be there."

"I have to go, but I love you." Lottie hung up, and Louis immediately called Simon following that. 

"Simon, I can't take the money back to New York after the job. Something has come up with my mother."

"Ask Luke or Perrie to do it then." Simon said. "Of course I want you to get home to your family, but you have to finish the job first."

"Of course, Simon." Louis said, silently, still trying to absorb the information. He thought that with treatment, his mum would get better. But she wasn't.

She could die?

Jay could die?


	9. Chapter 9

~So what do you want them to say when you're gone?,

That you gave up or that you kept going on?~

 

[warning: verbal abuse]

Louis is stoic, walking through the airport with his carry on bag. His two suitcases have been checked, and he will head back to England with Louis as soon as the job is over. Luke, Perrie, and Palmer walk quite a distance behind him, enjoying their trip.

Their reason for being in North Carolina? To enjoy a nice weekend down at the racetrack and to spend time with with some family. Perrie is supposed to be overly Southern, as is Luke, and Palmer is supposed to just be normal, and Louis is supposed to be deaf. That was their agreement.

Good thing Louis knows sign language.

Louis is completely comfortable with his seat arrangement too, sitting next to Luke. He can handle the flirting of Luke, but not Perrie and Palmer, in any capacity. So next to Luke he sits, still pretending that he is deaf.

But once the plane is taking off, Louis leans in to talk to Luke. "Would you mind switching with me, taking the money back to New York? Me mum is h-having surgery, and I want to be there."

Luke turned to look at Louis, smiling widely. Louis' anxiety left his mind. "Why would you ever think that I would want to help out a fag like you?"

Louis blinked.

Luke turned back to his own seat, picking out a movie, making sure everything was in the right spot.

Louis blinked again. "What?"

"You heard me." Luke said, grumbling. "You're weird for liking dudes, and you look like a mangy rat. You probably got that Adidas trackie from the thrift store, didn't you?"

Louis mumbled a couple of curses, immediately standing and leaving his seat. Everyone was still filling into the plane, so he had a moment to fall apart in the bathroom. "It's 2015." He told himself. "It's 2015. Love is love. I am not a rat."

But, Louis had never dealt with bullying very well, and the stress of the next week or so was getting to him, so he cried.

Giant heaving sobs, like he was a little boy in the bathroom at school during recess. Louis doesn't remember crying in the bathroom as a child, however. He was never bullied very much as a child. To him, it seemed fitting that the bullying would then come as he was an adult.

Not wanting to hold anything up, he exited the bathroom, trying to calm down and find a flight attendant. "Miss? Miss?" He asked, his Yorkshire accent coming through. "Do you know if there are any empty seats towards the back of the plane? The people I'm flying with are really rude, and I don't want to sit next to them? Can you do me a solid, mate?"

The flight attendant took in his puffy eyes, still wet with tears, and nodded simply. "One seat in the back, next to her." She pointed at an older lady, a little bit older than Louis' mum.

Louis grabbed his carry on bag from his seat, not noticing Perrie's confused glance. Immediately following his move to the back, however, she grinned widely. The plan was working.

Still calming down, Louis sat in the aisle seat, nodding at his seat partner. "Do you need a tissue?" She asked, handing Louis one from a travel-sized package. He took one gratefully.

"Thank you, ma'am." He said, fixing his hair and staring down at his shoes.

"Are you okay?" She asked, turning to look at him. Upon further notice, Louis noticed how much she looked like his mum, but different. Longer hair, but the same color. Different colored eyes. The cheekbones looked similar. Her style was way different.

It all came rushing out, even when he knew that it wasn't socially acceptable to tell your life story to a stranger. "My mom has leukemia and my fifteen year old sister is giving up some of her bone marrow and now I'm being bullied for loving whomever I want to love and I don't know what to feel, say, act, or anything at all!"

Sometimes the therapy session of one plane ride, talking to one stranger, can be just what you need.

And it was definitely what Louis needed.


	10. Chapter 10

~What do you do when a chapter ends?,

Do you close the book and never read it again?~

 

 

Louis sat in his hotel room on the third floor, alone, researching plane tickets. He was trying to find some sort of situation that would allow him to make it back to New York to return the money, since he couldn't rely on Luke or Perrie, and make it back home in time for the procedure. His family needed him. And Louis was a family man.

He finally found a scenario after a while, and he called Simon to let him know this. Finally, Louis put his shoes on, headed down to the front desk.

The hallway was lined with simple decorations that Louis took time to absorb as he jaunted towards the elevator, trying to put some pep into his step. He was hoping that the red bull he just had would help with that. He was also considering buying a one pound chocolate bar to eat all by himself instead of having a healthy dinner.

"Hi, I'm Louis." He said to the front desk receptionist. "I need to see about getting a few people banned from entering my room or gaining a room key."

"Sure." The man said. "What are their names?"

Louis leaned on the counter. "Perrie Edwards. Palmer Scott. Luke Davies."

"Do you have any sort of restraining order against them?" He asked.

"No." Louis shook his head. "Is that a requirement?"

"Nah." The man said. "I got you. What do they look like? If I catch them trying to get access, I'll give them a key to an empty room."

"Luke is tall with black hair. Perrie's tall with blonde hair, and Palmer has a prosthetic leg instead of his right leg."

"Thanks, Louis. I got you, man!"

Louis smiled, going over to the pool, which had very few occupants due to the cool temperature. But Louis figured that he'd just sit by it, call his family.

First up was Jay.

"Hi, mum!" He said, trying to be peppy. "I'll be home in time for the procedure!"

"That's wonderful, Boo Bear!" She sounded exhausted, and her enthusiasm sounded fake, but Louis knew that she would be overjoyed to see him. "I'm so grateful for you. I don't know what I did to deserve a son like you."

"I don't know what I did to deserve a mom like you." Louis said, smiling. "You sound tired, mum, so have a rest. Love you! Bye!"

He pulled his knees to his chest, and then he called his dad. "Hi, dad." He said.

His dad immediately burst into tears. Louis was shocked. "Dad, dad, hey, what's wrong?"

"It's so hard." Mark sobbed. He was always less controlled with his emotions than Jay, but still - it was odd to hear your father crying. "None of the kids are taking well to this situation. They want to see their mum, and they pretty much stay permanently with me for now, while Dan takes care of everything regarding your mum. And we just stay here at the house and watch movies and I can't take them out of the house because money is tight, Louis, and now Lottie is going to do this, and they all just seems so sad and I don't know what to do."

"Dad. Please stop crying." Louis commanded. "It's going to be alright. We never needed money before to make us happy. Take them to the park. Or for walks in the evening. Just something to get everyone moving. Have dance parties. You know, all the stuff we used to do."

"Are you crying?" Louis heard Lottie asking from the phone.

"I've got to go Lou. Will you be back before the procedure?" 

"Yes. Tell Lotts that, will ya?"

"Of course."

\---

Louis found himself at Target, wet from the rain since he walked instead of taking a cab, looking for presents. He figured that he would take some back to his family to cheer them up. He got some toys for the younger twins, and then he got some shirts and sandals for the older twins. Then a nice pillow for Fizz, as well as a book, and then for Lottie, he got a hair straightener and a large stuffed animal. He put it all on his credit card, not looking at prices, figuring that his family deserved this treat.

Then, he walked back to his hotel, trying to keep all of the presents dry. Finally he collapsed on his bed, wondering how he ever thought that America was great. He wanted to get out of there as fast as he could.


	11. Chapter 11

~Where do you go when your story's done?,

You can be who you were or who you'll become~

 

 

Louis' eyes opened, and he felt his neck at an odd angle, and he was struggling to get coherent thoughts out. He had no idea where he was, and the hard surface under him was not a mattress.

He felt around him, feeling compact walls and no knob or handle to let himself out. He knew that he wasn't in his bathroom, and not in his bed. But where was he?

Louis felt his head for injuries, but he didn't feel any pain coming from anywhere but his brain. And it was too dark in the room, too. Had he been kidnapped? The job! The job was today! Oh no, oh no! Louis felt as if he had overslept.

But he also was having trouble remembering what the last thing he did last night was. Going to the soda machine for some root beer, and then? And then there was nothing.

"The closet." Louis said, feeling his dry mouth and gagging. "I'm in the closet. What kind of symbolistic bull....this was Luke. This was Luke." He felt around the sliding doors, and realized that they were now glued shut. As in, Louis was unable to move them.

"Help!" He yelled. "Please help!" As his hands moved frantically, looking for a way out, he found the note. But of course, he couldn't read it.

Louis started to cry once he realized that his phone wasn't on him. "I need this money, Luke. I need it, you idiots. My family needs it. My family needs me." Louis cried, trying to open the door, but he just didn't know how. His body felt weak, his mind felt weak. He was weak. Spineless.

"Stop it. Stop crying, you idiot. It isn't over. This isn't over yet. We're not finished yet!" Louis pushed on the doors with all of his might, but they didn't budge. But when he tried to kick them, he felt it move, just slightly.

Louis started talking to himself more and more as he continually kicked at the doors. "It doesn't matter if they hate you, Louis. There are so many more people out there that love you. People that are counting on you to get this money. I am Louis Tomlinson. And Tomlinson's don't give up."

With one final kick, the door came free, and Louis recoiled from the sunlight that was being let in through the window. The first thing he did was look at the note in his hand.

Housekeeping will find you about noon, but by then the job will be over! We never wanted you on the team anyways, really! Stay in the closet where you belong! - Luke, perrie, and Palmer

Louis picked up his phone from where it was next to the bed. Checking the time, he cringed.

10:11.

The job started eleven minutes ago.

And there was no way that he was going to make it there in time to save the job.

But Louis was all about time crunches, wasn't he?

Less than sixty seconds later, Louis appeared on the street in front of the hotel, shoes in hand, as well as a yogurt and Simon's credit card, yelling, "Taxi!"

\---

"I'll pay you five hundred dollars to get me to the Shell next to the speedway as fast as you can." Louis told him, thrusting Simon's credit card forward.

"There are closer Shell's." He said.

"I need to go to that one specifically. Please. My best friend works there, and he messed up on his first day, and I need to help him. Come on man."

The driver went speeding off to the tune of Louis' lies.

Louis put on his shoes and ate his yogurt at the speed of light. He remembered all the details, of getting the car from behind the Shell, which the others presumably already did, going inside and getting roadtrip snacks from the store, and then picking the others up from the back at approximately 10:28. There were twelve minutes until then.

In his rush, Louis had remembered his cigarettes and his lighter. "Can I smoke?" He asked the cabbie, who nodded fervently, driving as fast as he could. Louis really respected that.

Louis lit up his cigarette, mentally preparing himself. He had already broken his cover of being deaf, but that didn't matter anymore. All that mattered to him was getting through this job safely and getting back to his family on time. The thought of getting caught didn't even cross Louis' mind.

Two minutes later, the cabbie dropped him off at the Shell, gave him Simon's credit card back, and Louis stomped out his cigarette and started running towards Charlotte Motor Speedway at full speed, ready to save the day.

After all, Tomlinson's are heroes, and they never give up.


	12. Chapter 12

~Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh, if it all goes wrong,

Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh, darling just hold on~

 

 

Louis sat in the car calmly, waiting for them to run out the door. The idiots had actually left the car unlocked in the back. He drank some bottled water that was in the side door, and he was wearing his mask, which had been left in the trunk, since he wasn't there.

When the clock hit 10:30, he threw the car in reverse, and sped up to the back door. He opened the passenger door and the back doors, and the trunk. Then Louis heard gunshots, and he revved the engine.

At 10:31, the door opened, and the three of them came running. Luke looked at the car with wide eyes, but threw one of the duffle bags into the trunk. Palmer threw the other one back there, and then got in the passenger seat. Perrie collapsed in the backseat, blood soaking out of her arm.

Luke's face was covered in blood, and it took him three tries to shut the trunk before he slid in next to Perrie and started barking instructions to Louis. "Up towards the highway. There's an overpass where we'll meet up with the decoys. Palmer, guide him."

Silence.

"Palmer!" Luke yelled as Louis hit the gas.

Palmer's head was tipped forward, and his eyes were closed. Luke touched his neck, to get a pulse. "He's just passed out."

"Is Perrie okay?" Louis asked in a terse voice.

"I'm fine." She said, albeit weakly.

"Don't worry about it." Luke said, taking off his shirt to wrap around Perrie's arm. "We got the money, don't act like you care about her."

Louis didn't really care about Perrie, but she was a human being. Louis didn't want her dying in the backseat of some rank car.

"Turn left." Luke told Louis, a little abruptly, causing a sharp turn. "Now, you need to cross the freeway. No one will follow you for a second. Just wait for a gap, cross over the freeway, over the median, and then swing left to keep going that way. Brake hard once you're under the bridge and get into the right lane."

Louis didn't hesitate for one second to follow his orders. Perrie screamed as the car jostled going over the median.

Louis turned up the radio to drown out his thoughts as he did a wide left turn and then a hard brake, taking the place of the decoy on the right. Then he kept going in line with the other cars until he got to the right exit, and went straight into the parking garage.

Louis grabbed the keys to the car that he was supposed to take, and he took his mask off. Luke was still dealing with Perrie, so Louis put Palmer in the other car, poured some water down his throat, and then helped Luke transfer Perrie into the other car.

Louis took one bag of cash out of the trunk, and then got into the car. There were the sounds of sirens in the distance, but they weren't coming for them. They had gotten away.

"Thanks, Louis." Luke said, as he shut the door.

Louis rolled the window down and flipped him off as he drove away.

\---

"How'd it go?" Simon called as Louis was checking out of his hotel room.

"It's done." Louis said, hanging up. He didn't want to talk about anything that had happened today, or even think about it too much. He just wanted to get on a plane.

At the airport, he checked all of his bags, and hurriedly got on his plane, not wanting to miss anything. He looked at his phone finally, but there were no messages.

He'd call mum as soon as he landed in New York.

Finally alone with his thoughts, Louis didn't get emotional or sad or anything about being locked in the closet. He was just proud at himself for overcoming all of the obstacles of the day.

Simon was sure to be proud of him as well.


	13. Chapter 13

~The sun goes down and it comes back up,

The world it turns no matter what~

 

 

Louis patiently waited in line, looking up at the sign that said "Medical Billing". He had his checkbook in his hand, and his face was emotionless. The procedure had gone well, and Lottie complained often, but Jay was getting better, slowly.

"Johannah Deakin." Louis said, going up to the billing office. There was just a couple of things that he had to pay for, and he didn't mind it.

The money from the job had arrived at his house yesterday, and he was ecstatic to begin to spend it. But he knew that he had to do it wisely.

After spending the money, Louis took his girls out to a movie. The four of them - Lottie, Fizz, Phoebe, and Daisy. He got the four of them in his dad's car, left the small twins with Dan, and they were off to watch Jurassic World, which had just come out a couple days earlier.

He treated the girls, letting them get a large popcorn and some candies, and they were all excited to see it. Lottie was just tired, and leaned against Lou while they were at the concessions counter. "I love you, Lou."

"Love ya, Lotts." He said back. "You know I'd do anything for you?"

"Of course." She smiled. "Even kill someone, most likely."

"Maybe." He shrugged. "But as a worst case scenario."

After the movie was over, he took the girls back to dad's and headed to the hospital to see his mum before visiting hours were over.

At a stoplight, Lottie popped her head up from the backseat. "Surprise!"

"Charlotte Tomlinson!" Louis screamed at her. "You should be at home, resting."

"You sound like mum. Or Fizz, because they are basically the same person. I want to see mum too, okay?"

Louis didn't turn the car around, because he knew that Lottie was older than the rest of them. The two of them walked inside the hospital instead, all the way to the oncology ward, getting their little visitor's badges. "Hello, mum." Lottie said, going to sit in the chair.

Jay's eyes lit up when they entered her room, and she put down her book. "Feeling good?" Louis asked, unzipping his jacket since the room was a little warm.

"I'm feeling pretty good today." She smiled, but it didn't meet her eyes. Louis was tense, as he noticed the fear in her eyes.

"What's wrong, mummy?" Lottie asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, stopping for a second to put her hair up in a bun.

"Nothing, dearie." Jay said, not wanting to worry her daughter. "Don't be sad."

Even though Lottie had looked so happy the last week, she responded with, "But it's so hard, mummy. Everything makes me sad."

Jay took off her reading glasses. "Well, when you're sad, you make others sad, and that's just spreading sadness. Why not spread happiness instead?"

"When you're sad?" Louis asked, trying to work through the logic. He sat on the other side of his mum.

"Well, even if you're sad, others still deserve to be happy, right? If you can't help yourself, help others, right?" Louis sucked in a shaky breath before releasing it. These felt like dying words.

"Hey, Lotts. Go wait in the hall for a minute, ey? I want to talk to mum again." Lottie stood up, wiping her tears, and Louis watched her walk into the hall towards the bench.

"What is it, Boo Bear?" Jay asked, searching his face for any hint.

"I'm going back to New York in September." He said. "To keep doing what I did a couple weeks ago."

"Louis, you should be doing what makes you happy. Not what makes you the most money."

"Mum, I promise that I'll follow my heart after you're better. I'm only 20. I've got to make a lot of dumb mistakes before I realize what makes me happy."

"I guess you're right on that one." She smiled and chuckled. "Did I actually raise you right?"

"You raised all of us right, mum." Louis said, and a single tear fell out. He brushed his fringe back. "We're all amazing little people of our own. All seven of us. Who'll live amazing lives." Louis started to cry then, and Lottie came back in to get into the group hug. "You are the best mum I could ever ask for."

Lottie was trying to hold back her own tears. "We'll come and see you in the morning, mummy, okay? We'll bring the babies too."

Jay smiled at them. "Run along now, kiddos. Let mummy get her rest."

"Love you mum." Lottie and Louis said together, and then they clasped hands and left the building together, trying to control their emotions.


	14. Chapter 14

~Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh, if it all goes wrong,

Darling, just hold on~

 

 

"Girlies, wake up." Louis said, trying to control his emotions. "Don't worry about getting dressed, just get in the car." Phoebe and Daisy both grumbled and sat up at the same time. "Phoebe, go help Lottie get Doris, will you? Daisy, will you make sure than their diaper bag is packed?"

The two of them followed his instructions without saying a word.

It was four in the morning.

There was a call from the hospital.

Mum was dying.

Five minutes later, Louis was driving the van, Dad was in the passenger seat, Lottie sat in between the car seats, and the other three were in the back. There were a lot of sniffles.

"Is Dan going to be there?" Fizz asked.

"Yes." Dad answered simply.

"Will you please tell us what's going on?" Phoebe asked, letting out a sob.

Dad explains it to them, and then everyone except the babies was crying.

\---

Jay had Doris under her left arm, and Ernest under her right arm. They were both asleep, but Jay wasn't.

Dad and Dan sat in the chairs in the corner, talking to each other.

The rest of the kids were planning out a short play to keep themselves busy. Louis had a pad of paper and was writing down their ideas. "Here, Fizz. You make a paper mustache." Lottie laughed.

Fizz got to work doing that, and Phoebe made herself a little paper sailboat hat. She balanced on one leg and said "argh, matey.", making everyone giggle. Jay simply smiled at their antics, since she didn't have the breath to laugh.

Once they were all ready, Louis began the plan, with his position begin the narrator. Phoebe was a pirate, Fizz was a bank robber, Lottie was a cowgirl, and Daisy was a narcoleptic princess.

The parents watched on as the play went on, with the narcoleptic princess being the last one alive at the end, when the others found her asleep in the safe of the bank that Fizz robbed.

Dad and Dan clapped, and Jay couldn't clap because of the babies, but she patted the bed symbolically. The cast bowed, and then Jay simply nodded at Mark and Dan. Dan woke the babies up, and Lottie clung to Louis, terrified. "What's going on?" She asked.

"It's time to say goodbye, girls." Dad told them.

"What? No." Fizz said, starting to cry.

"Bye, Doris. Bye, Ernest." Jay said to her babies, kissing them on the forehead. Doris put her hand on Jay's face, and Ernest started to cry. Dan kissed Jay's forehead and took the babies, putting them back in their carseats out in the hall. "Come here, twinnies."

Phoebe and Daisy ran to their mum, one of them on either side of her. "Mummy, I don't want you to go." Phoebe cried.

"Saying goodbye is so hard." Daisy sobbed.

"Please be good girls for daddy, and to Dan." Jay said to them, a little out of breath. "Try not to sleep too much, Daisy."

Lottie was sobbing heavily into Louis' side. Louis felt like he was going to pass out.

"Keep up on your schoolwork, Phoebe." Jay scolded the other twin, and she chuckled a little bit. 

"We all love you so much, mummy." Daisy said then, cupping her mom's cheeks. "Don't be scared, okay? We'll be fine."

Jay kissed them, and gave them last hugs, and then they went out into the hallway. Fizz ran up, next in line, and Lottie didn't want to watch anymore, fully burying her face in Louis' jacket. "I love you so much." Fizz told her. "And I'll miss you every day."

"Maybe most days, but not every day." Jay kissed Fizz's cheek. "I love you, darling. Don't ever forget that. Watch after the twinnies now, okay?" Fizz nodded, and then it was Lottie's turn.

Lottie was the most emotional. Louis went over and gave his dad a hug while he watched Lottie stumble out everything that she wanted to say. "I'll make you proud, mummy. And I'll watch over Fizz and the twinnies and the babies, and I'll watch over Louis the most, since he's always been the one to do stupid things."

"Hey." Louis warned, trying not to have a complete emotional breakdown.

A minute later, Lottie ran to her dad, who walked her out to the bench, and Louis went to give his mum a hug. "I'll watch over Dad, yes. And all of the kids. Lottie especially."

"Just please, do what makes you happy, Boo Bear." She said, fixing his fringe with her last bit of strength. "Find someone who loves you with their entire heart, and love them with your entire heart too."

"I will, mummy." Louis said, smiling at her. "I love you. We all do. And I'll make sure that the babies know who you are, okay? They won't grow up not knowing you are."

"Thank you, Boo Bear. And I love you too." She said goodbye to him, and Louis went out into the hallway, not looking back. He didn't want to see her in her dying moments.

"Come on. Let's go to the car." He said. Phoebe grabbed Doris' car seat, while Fizz grabbed Ernest's. Lottie and Daisy clung to each other, and Louis led them away from the room.

In the elevator, they were full of sniffles and sobs.

"Should I pick up pizza on the way home?"

"Please." Fizz sobbed. "And I want garlic bread, and wings, and nine different types of pizza."

"Should we wait for dad?" Phoebe asked, getting the kids buckled.

"He'll need to stay for a bit with Dan." Louis said. "Okay. So, we'll pick up pizza, and then I'll run into the store, grab some ice cream. Whipped cream."

"I want chocolate." Phoebe said. There were a million different ice cream and pizza orders, and Louis just let them talk. He just tried to keep his emotions under control so that he could drive.

But in all reality, he probably should've called an Uber.

\---

"Hey, dad." Louis said, from under the pile of all of the children. The babies were in their cribs, and Lottie was asleep on Louis' lap, Fizz had her head on his shoulder, and the twins were asleep in the chair.

Dan followed Mark inside of the house, and the two of them got some pizza. "Thanks for watching them, Louis." His dad told him.

"No problem." He smiled.

"There's a lot of stuff to think about." Dan said with a sniffle. "Do you want to get together this weekend and talk about funeral plans?"

Mark nodded. "Yeah. Do you want to take the babies with you until then?"

"Yeah. You've got the other four to deal with." Dan smiled. "I'll just eat and take them."

"Stay as long as you want, Dan. Don't want you driving home all emotional. We're family."

"I think that I'll stay tonight, dad." Louis announced.

"Can we put all of the mattresses in the living room and have a slumber party?" Fizz asks, rubbing her eyes and looking over at her dad.

Louis smiled and rubbed her head. "Of course. Go wake up the twins and start getting the mattresses in here." Louis looked over at his dad, who simply nodded.

Anything to make the kids happy, for now.


	15. Chapter 15

~Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh,

Darling, just hold on~

 

 

Just a little under two years later, Louis was in New York. He had done tons of small jobs for Simon, advancing his skills, and he was back for yet another small job.

Simon had been really understanding and kind, following Louis being locked in the closet and saving the North Carolina job. Now Louis usually did two person jobs, and this job was no exception.

Louis spun in the spinny chair, his grasshopper mocha sitting on the table. He was in a conference room in Simon's office, since the building where they usually had their meetings was being remodeled. Louis waited, spinning in the chair, waiting for Simon and his partner, whose name was Ed or something.

"Hello." Someone said, walking into the room. "Am I in the right place? Are you Lewis?"

Louis scoffed, stopping the chair. "Louis, not Lewis."

"Hi, I'm Ed."

Louis' vision stopped spinning, and he saw a red-head holding his hand out. Louis stood and shook it. "British?"

"West Yorkshire." Ed smiled.

"I'm a South Yorkshire man, myself." Louis said, smiling.

"Good to see you two getting acquainted." Simon said, walking in with a smile. "Now do you want job details or what?"

"Yes please." Ed said, sitting down with an eager smile.

"He's a computer guy." Simon said, first of all, to Louis. "Louis' my everything man. He could be a hit man if I wanted him to be."

"I don't want to kill people." Louis said with a straight face.

"What if he stole your sandwich?" Ed asked, folding his hands together on top of the table.

Louis laughed, caught off guard. And then he smiled over at Ed, knowing that they were going to be good friends.

\---

Ed and Louis now sat at a club, having a couple drinks together, talking and bonding. Louis had never really done anything like that before with anyone that he'd ever worked with, but Ed was the one who suggested it, so out they went.

"I'm telling you, those were the meanest people I've ever met in my life. They just wanted me off the team, really."

"I could understand that, but calling you a fag was below the belt. But I got a lot of hate back when I was a teenager and I was trying to get into music. I wasn't what music needed."

"I'm sure your music was good, then. Maybe today it'd be better off?"

"I'm done with music. Rid myself of it. Computers is where it's at, man. Hacking brings me so much joy, it's unbelievable. One day I'll do good with it, but as for now, I just need some money to get me up in the world. What about you? How did Simon get you in his clutches?"

"My mum got sick, my family needed money to live. So I did what I had to do. And now, I guess I like doing it. Gives me a rush. The money's good for my family. My sister Lottie, I sent her to beauty school, and she's releasing a book soon about makeup. She's connected to a bunch of beauty companies, and she's doing what makes her happy."

"How many siblings you got, then?" Ed asked.

"Six. Five sisters and one brother. All younger. Youngest two are three. Lottie's the oldest, under me, and now Fizz has gone off to uni. The twinnies, Phoebe and Daisy, are getting into makeup too, and Ernie and Doris are still very young."

"Big family. Quite a family man, are you?"

"Of course. I'd do anything for my family." Louis said, smiling.

"Can't have too many drinks." Ed said, putting his half full one down. "Got the job in the morning."

"Yeah, I think it'll be a breeze really, as long as you're timing is right and everything."

"Yeah, I've got it down. Everything is set up so that I just have to push a couple buttons at the right times. The computer is in the getaway car. You're a good driver, right?"

"The best, mate. Want to walk down to the beach with me?"

The two of them left the bad New York bar, walking down to the shore. That was the only thing good about the place - it's location next to the water.

The two of them joked and threw stones into the water, the cool breeze sobering them just a bit. "Everytime I'm away, I forget how much I love New York." Louis giggled.

"It's a wonderful and a horrifying place all at once." Ed said, in an oddly poetic way, lending Louis his lighter.

"The music industry would've been lucky to have you, Ed Sheeran." Louis said, saluting him.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Eh, music is probably better off without me."

Louis shook his head. "Never in a million years."


	16. Chapter 16

~Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh,

If it all goes wrong~

 

 

Louis was used to having to do things himself. He just thought that of all the people that he's done jobs with, Ed would be the most likely to not bail on him on the day of the job.

But here Louis was, alone, doing the job himself.

There was music streaming from his earbuds as he worked on the computer. It really was a couple keystrokes, as Ed had said. Then all Louis had to do was stroll through the doors, get the money, and then drive away.

That's exactly what he did.

He even did a little dance while doing it. He sashayed down the empty hallways with his mask on and his duffel bag in front of him, and he took all of the money out of the unguarded and unlocked safe. "Thank you very much." Louis said, doing a spot on Elvis impression.

When the duffel bag was full, he did the salsa on his way out - a couple months prior, he had taken some dance classes in London because he was bored. A couple acting classes, as well, had made his self-confidence shoot through the roof.

"Well hello there, Simon." Louis said, whipping the minivan that he was driving down alleyways and tight streets. "Just on my way to pick up the kids from soccer practice in this god forsaken van."

"It's inconspicuous, what can I say? You and Ed get the money?"

"More like I got the money. Ed didn't show."

"What?" Simon was genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. I waited a little too long, and he didn't even show up. Are you going to track him down and kill him or something? Not that I want you to, but are you going to?"

"No, no, no. I've worked with Ed for a while, this has never happened before." Simon sounded genuinely panicked. "I'll deal with this. Just bring me my money."

Louis threw his phone down at the empty passenger seat, and pulled into the parking garage. He grabbed the money, switching into a sleek black car. He took his mask off finally, and started driving to the parking garage by Simon's building.

Once he got inside, the secretary recognized him, and he went ahead to the elevator to talk to Simon. "Money, money, money." Louis said.

"Thanks, Louis. Get your cut sometime soon, you know the drill." Simon was hard at work.

"Well, goodbye then. Call me when you need me, you know the drill."

"Don't you want to go out and live your life? I've given your more than enough money, and this isn't a career Louis. You've been working for me for two years."

"I like it." Louis said, turning around and fixing his fringe. "What's wrong with that?"

"You've got to find something else, don't you? Your passions and stuff?" Simon looked up at him. 

"I'm only 22, Simon. I've got plenty of life to live. I don't feel like having this argument, so I'm leaving. See you next time, Uncle Si."

"Bye, Louis."

\---

Louis went back to his apartment, planning on staying for a couple of days before heading back. As he laid there on the couch, watching Halloweentown, he tried to think about what he wanted to do with his life.

The acting classes were a good start, but he really wanted to get back to writing, which was his big dream before Simon came along. At that moment, Louis picked up a pad of paper from next to his front door, and he jotted down some ideas.

Maybe Simon was right, maybe he should start planning for the rest of his life.

Could Louis do both? Work for Simon and start writing?

Brilliant idea.


	17. Chapter 17

~Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh,

Darling just hold on~

 

 

One year following the job with, or really, without, Ed, Louis was back in London, doing a little bit of writing here and there, and still doing jobs for Simon when he was summoned. And today was the day that Louis was going to tell Lottie everything.

She was eighteen now, and she wanted to know where all of the money came from. Why Louis was in New York, and who this Simon was.

He would tell her, but her only, because he was the closest to her out of all of his siblings.

He got her coffee, and then went to her apartment in London, where he had been staying for a few days on vacation. "Hello, my darling brother." She said, taking the mocha out of Louis' hand as she opened the door.

Her hair was dyed silver, and Louis commented on that as he came through the door. "Love the hair."

"I do too. It's very me." She twirled around her apartment, one that reminded Louis of his own in New York. "So, is this is? Are you finally telling me everything?"

"Yes. And it sounds like something out of a movie, okay? And don't turn me into the police."

"I'd be an accomplice at this point. And you've helped out our family a lot by doing this. So what is it?"

"I rob banks for a guy named Simon Cowell." Louis said, starting off with the basics.

"What?" Lottie nearly spit out her drink. "You rob banks? My scrawny brother who has no spine?" 

"I have a spine." Louis whispered into his drink. "And I've been doing it for three years and haven't been caught. I'm good at what I do."

"Wow. Okay, I didn't expect that. Any famous robberies?"

"Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2015." He said. "That was my first. I was the getaway driver."

Lottie nodded slowly. "I don't know what to say, really."

"It's a lot, I know." Louis said. "But I was kind of relieved that you wanted to know, because now I can talk to someone about it. I didn't even really tell mum about it before she died."

Lottie's phone rang all of a sudden, and she looked at the ringer. "Dad probably forgot where the flour is again. He can call Fizz, who literally lives in Doncaster. Yeah, hello, dad." She suddenly stood, and made a wrap it up motion to Louis as she hung up a minute later. "Phoebe broke her arm, they're at the hospital and Fizz is at work. He needs some help. So off her go to Doncaster. Coming?"

"Of course." Louis said. "But I'm driving."

Lottie rolled her eyes at him. "Wrong."

\---

Louis eventually was gifted the right to drive Lottie's car, and he got them to Doncaster in one hour instead of two hours.

They went to the E.R., where Phoebe was in her own room, getting checked out by a doctor, and Daisy sat next to her twin, and Dad had the twins on his lap. "You two got here quick." He commented.

"Oh, Phoebe. Are you alright?" Lottie asked, going to comfort her sister.

"I can take the twins if you want." Louis said. "Come on Doris, Come on Ernest. Let's go down to the garden and look at flowers, eh?" He grabbed one of their hands each, and the three of them went out to the garden.

It was full of people on their break or enjoying a relaxing lunch. "They're so cute, are they yours?" A woman asked Louis.

"No, their my brother and sister." He smiled up at them. She apologized, and he shook his head. "It happens often, really. I'm Louis." He held out his hand, keeping an eye on the twins.

The brown-haired and brown-eyed woman shook his hand, and Louis looked at her pink scrubs. "I'm Eleanor."

"Ernest, don't eat the flowers." Louis said, running off to get his little brother.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Louis! Do you want my number?" She yelled after him.

"Yes, please! Just give me a moment!" He laughed, trying to walk the two children back over towards Eleanor. Eventually, she came to him, whipping out a pen and writing her number on his arm.

"Text me if you want to get drinks sometime, yeah?" She said, being very bold and forward.

"Yes." Louis said, in quite a daze. "Bye, Eleanor!"

"Bye, Louis!" She yelled back, spinning around for a second before running back inside. Then Louis giggled.

Yes.

Giggled.

Like an actual idiot.


	18. Chapter 18

~Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh oh~

"So, they just DM'ed you and were like, oh, want to come to New York for a photoshoot? Why couldn't they do one in London? Is this really another bank robbery that you don't want to tell me about?"

"I sent you screenshots of the DM's, Lotts. They think, based on my Instagram selfies, that I'd be a good model for their brand. I've also been repping Adidas since I was born. I'm dedicated to them, and maybe they'll give me free trackies if I do this."

"Whatever. Don't rob any banks while you're there."

"No promises."

Louis ended his phone call with his sister, putting his bag up as he headed through security. He was going to be a model. For Adidas.

He was buzzing, honestly.

\---

"You're like the cutest." The photographer said. "You've never modeled before, right?"

"Nope." Louis said.

"Well that's fine. We'll just take some standard pictures. Put this outfit on for the first one. Oh lord. Your eyes. They're so blue."

"I've been told that." Louis laughed. "I'll just go put this on, then."

Louis was an amazing model, looking stunning in all of the clothes, and the photographer was amazed with how pretty he looked and how good the promo would be.

When all was said and done, the two of them hugged, and then Louis was off.

Adidas being a huge corporation, he expected it the encounter to be bigger than that. But it was just one photographer and a lighting guy all day.

Louis was ready for some food, now.

\---

Louis found himself at IHOP.

He ordered a little bit of everything, and had a nice glass of orange juice with it all. He was just finishing up his meal when he got a call from someone.

Eleanor.

Eleanor and Louis had had a couple of one night stand sort of things over the months. Louis couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her, and he honestly didn't like her all that much.

Really nice woman, but just not for him.

"What?" He said, answering.

"I'm pregnant." She said, not even saying hello. "It's yours, obviously. That's why I'm calling."

Louis pursed his lips, trying to rapidly process the information. "Okay...." He drew out the word.

"What do we do, I'm freaking out?" She said, sounding like she was having a panic attack.

"Alright, love. Calm down. Everything is going to be okay. Are you freaking out because you want to keep it or because you don't?"

"I-i want to keep it, Louis. I'm a baby nurse. I love babies. Have always wanted kids."

"Well, then. There ya go."

"You're not going to run off? Delete my number and never talk to me again?"

"I'm a decent human being, Eleanor." He said, giving his server his card. "Look, I'll be back in Doncaster in a couple of days. We can get brunch and talk, okay?"

"Okay." Eleanor said, calming down. "Thanks, Louis. For being decent."

"Thank my mum for that one, alright?" He laughed. "Bye, Eleanor."

\---

A couple hours later, Louis was at a club, doing shots. He was feeling very stressed about being a father, and he kept thinking of his mum and his family, and he just felt like getting drunk.

Louis really needed friends.

Louis sat at the bar, drinking his woes away, and being successful, actually. He forgot about everything and just let himself be in the moment.

"Bartender, vodka on the rocks!" Someone shouted, shoving himself onto the bar and pushing Louis aside.

"Ey, watch it." Louis told him off.

"Sorry." Liam giggled, taking his drink and going back to the dance floor.

Louis shook his head. "New York is crazy." He said to himself. "New York is crazy."


	19. Chapter 19

~If it all goes wrong, darling just hold on~

 

 

"I want to be at the beach." Fizz complained from the couch, which she hadn't left in at least two days.

Louis and her have been binging Riverdale the whole weekend, and have just been ordering takeout to the house. "But this couch is comfy."

"I like to listen to the waves." Fizz smiled. "Your phone has been buzzing on the kitchen table for like an hour, by the way."

Louis jumped up, knowing that it would be Simon, which it was. Seven missed calls and fourteen texts. Without reading the texts, he called him. "Sorry, Simon. I was uh...asleep."

"Don't lie to me, Louis." Simon sighed. "I need you in New York now."

"Of course. You know I'm your slave." Louis said, voice serious.

"Just get here, okay? I've got you on a flight out of Heathrow in three hours, so get moving." Simon hung up the phone, and Louis turned to his sister.

"I've got to go, Fizz Fizz. Pause it, and I'll be back....I don't know when. I'm headed to New York."

"Fine." Fizz said. "I'll just keep watching The Walking Dead."

"Love you!" Louis yelled, running out of the house.

\---

In the airport, Louis watched the rain fall outside of the window.

It was November.

He sat by the window next to his gate, got out his notebook, and he started writing. After a couple minutes of writing, he realized that he was writing the same little skit that him and his sisters had performed for his mum three years ago.

He smiled just remembering it, but the memory was tainted with sadness.

\---

"Hello, apartment." Louis said, opening the door.

There was no noise back.

He went to his closet, which had clothes in it, ones that would be nicer than whatever he was wearing at the moment. He had slept on the plane, and was ready to meet Simon, since it was so urgent.

He put on his customary jean jacket with the fur, some Adidas shoes, and some Adidas trackies to mellow out the look, along with some slogan t-shirt from somewhere that he didn't really care about. Probably Target.

Then, he took to walking, not wanting to get an Uber, really. He listened to some music for a while, and enjoyed the weather, which was definitely less rainy than England, but not snowy enough for New York at this time of year. Louis' been in New York during the winter - he knows how bad it gets, and this isn't bad.

Louis hadn't had a job with Simon in maybe six months, and from the urgentness in his tone, he reckoned that it was a group job. He hadn't done a group job since 2015, which didn't excite him. Why should it? His first experience was terrible.

In the distance, he spotted the familiar building, and sucked in a breath.

It's going to be alright, Louis, he told himself. Just hold on.


End file.
